A letter has been sent to Portsmouth police commissioners demanding $21 million on behalf of five residents involving accusations against the embattled police department.

An attorney in Texas sent the letter, indicating that unless the city pays $21 million, a lawsuit will be filed.

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The nine-page letter includes allegations of abuses of police authority that date back several years. The city and police department are trying to move past an inheritance scandal that ended last year with a nearly complete change in the department's upper ranks.

Attorney Joel Androphy said the five people he represents suffered injuries and economic losses as a result of abuse and misuse of power and authority by the Portsmouth Police Department.

"The wrongful conduct includes, but is in no way limited to, the following: malicious prosecution, wrongful investigation and/or prosecution, abuse of process, abuse/misuse of authority, libel, slander and harassment, and negligent infliction of emotional distress," the letter states.

The five potential plaintiffs include Portsmouth attorney Justin Nadeau, his wife and three others, some of them Nadeau's clients.

"The Police Department, the city and I, we will take a deep breath, calm down and deal with these issues that have now been presented to us," Portsmouth City Attorney Bob Sullivan said.

Sullivan said there will be a thorough investigation, but he called the Police Department a fine department that has been through a lot.

"To get this kind of a major demand, arising out of actions in the past, blamed in large part on people that aren't even here anymore, and knowing that that would trigger a lot of difficult publicity that the Portsmouth Police Department has had to deal with for the last several years, just creates a situation that I find really disheartening," he said.

Sullivan said the mere fact of a being lawsuit is not such a threat that the city would pay $21 million to avoid it.